U.S. durable goods orders drop 0.5%, core orders rise 0.5%

Investing.com - U.S. durable goods orders fell more than expected in April, while core orders topped forecasts, painting a mixed picture of the economy, official data showed on Tuesday.

In a report, the U.S. Commerce Department said that total durable goods orders, which include transportation items, declined by a seasonally adjusted 0.5% last month, compared to expectations for a drop of 0.4%.

Orders for durable goods in March were revised up to a gain of 5.1% gain from a previously reported increase of 4.7%.

Durable goods are typically bulky or heavy products designed to last at three years, such as trains, planes and automobiles.

Core durable goods orders, excluding volatile transportation items, inched up by a seasonally adjusted 0.5% in April, beating forecasts for an increase of 0.4%.

Core durable goods orders rose 0.6% in March, whose figure was revised up from previously reported gain of 0.3%.

Orders for core capital goods, a key barometer of private-sector business investment, increased by 1.0% last month, easily surpassing expectations for a 0.3% increase and following a gain of 1.5% in March.

Shipments of core capital goods, a category used to calculate quarterly economic growth, rose 0.8% in April, above forecasts for a 0.2% gain, after rising 1.0% in the preceding month.

EUR/USD was trading at 1.0897 from around 1.0925 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.5376 from 1.5394 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 122.97 from 122.74 earlier.

The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 97.23, compared to 97.01 ahead of the report.

Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to a modestly lower open. The Dow futures pointed to a loss of 0.1%, the S&P 500 futures shed 0.2%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures dipped 0.15%.

Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,189.20 a troy ounce, compared to $1,191.10 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $58.95 a barrel from $59.13 earlier.